Mounting assembly for an air barrier

ABSTRACT

A mounting assembly for an air barrier. The mounting assembly includes a housing with opposed ends and at least one beam receiving channel in at least one of the opposed ends. More than one fan is disposed in the housing. The fans are adapted to create an air barrier across an opening. Support beams are telescopically received in the beam receiving channels. The support beams are movable between a retracted position and an extended position. The support beams are selectively extendible to meet installation width requirements. A housing support, which may be a mounting bracket or a support rod, is adapted to be mounted to one of a wall or a ceiling and adapted to engage at least one support beam.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a mounting assembly for an air barrier used with access openings.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Fans are used to circulate air across access openings to create air barriers. These air barriers prevent the incursion of cold in winter and heat in summer. They also prevent the entry of dust or insects. The air barrier enables the environment to be controlled, while leaving the access openings unobstructed.

The fans are positioned in housings, which are mounted above the access opening by housing supports. The housing supports can be mounting brackets which are adapted to secure the housing to a wall. The housing supports can also be rods which are used to suspend the housing from a ceiling. Most installations involve the use of an overhead door or overhead shutters. The mounting of the housing must not impede the operation of the overhead door or overhead shutters. In some installations, there is room to mount the mounting bracket along the edges of the access opening. In other installations, tracks for the overhead door or overhead shutters are positioned along the edge of the access opening and the mounting bracket must be spaced from the edges of the access opening. Due to these various factors, there is no “standard” set of installation dimensions. The installations, therefore, tend to be labour intensive, costly, custom installations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

What is required is a mounting assembly which is readily adaptable to installation requirements, so as to reduce the labour and cost of air barrier installation.

According to the present invention, there is provided a mounting assembly for an air barrier, which includes a housing having opposed ends and at least one beam receiving channel in at least one of the opposed ends. More than one fan is disposed in the housing which is adapted to create an air barrier across an opening. There is provided at least one support beam telescopically received in the at least one beam receiving channel, the at least one support beam being movable between a retracted position and an extended position, the at least one support beam being selectively extendible to meet installation width requirements. A housing support, which may be a mounting bracket or a support rod, is adapted to be mounted to one of a wall or a ceiling and adapted to engage at least one support beam.

More beneficial results may be obtained when there are two beam receiving channels in parallel spaced relation in is at least one of the opposed ends. Even more beneficial results may be obtained when there is at least one beam receiving channel in each of the opposed ends.

More beneficial results may be obtained when locking means are provided to lock the at least beam in a selected telescopic position relative to the at least one beam receiving channel. The locking means may be locking screws which extend through an aperture in the housing into the at least one beam receiving channel to engage the at least one support beam.

More beneficial results may be obtained when a mounting plate is secured transversely to a remote end the at least one support beam, the mounting plate being adapted to engage the housing support.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of the invention will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to in any way limit the scope of the invention to the particular embodiment or embodiments shown, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the mounting assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the mounting assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a detailed perspective view of the mounting assembly shown in FIG. 1 in use with wall mounted beam supports;

FIG. 4 is a detailed perspective view of the mounting assembly shown in FIG. 1 in use with ceiling mounted beam supports;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the mounting assembly shown in FIG. 1 mounted on a wall above an opening;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the mounting assembly shown in FIG. 1 mounted from a ceiling above an opening;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the nozzle;

FIG. 8 is a detailed side elevation view in section of the nozzle;

FIG. 9 is a side elevation view of the nozzle in a first position;

FIG. 10 is a side elevation view of the nozzle in a second position;

FIG. 11 is a side elevation view of a pivotally mounted nozzle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The preferred embodiment, a mounting assembly for an air barrier generally identified by reference numeral 10, will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 11.

Structure and Relationship of Parts:

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a mounting assembly for an air barrier 10. Mounting assembly 10 comprises a housing 12 that has opposed ends 14 and 16, and beam receiving channels 18 in the opposed ends 14 and 16. Housing 12 is acoustically insulated. It will be understood that the placement and number of receiving channels 18 used will depend on the application. Although in FIGS. 5 and 6 there are shown two beam receiving channels 18 in parallel spaced relation in one end; it will be understood that the same is present in each end. FIG. 1 shows multiple fans 20 disposed in housing 12. Fans 20 are adapted to create an air barrier 23 as shown in FIG. 2, and FIGS. 5 and 6 show how air barrier 23 is positioned across an opening 22, such as a door.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a support beam 24 is telescopically received in beam receiving channel 18, such that support beam 24 is movable between a retracted position and an extended position, which allows support beam 24 to be selectively extendible to meet installation width requirements. For example, support beam 24 may be extended up to 9 inches from beam receiving channel 18. Housing supports 26 are provided that engage support beams 24 and are mounted to either a wall or a ceiling. FIG. 3 shows housing supports 26 comprising mounting brackets 28, and FIG. 5 shows mounting brackets 28 mounted to a wall 32. FIG. 4 shows housing supports 26 comprising support rods 30, and FIG. 6 shows support rods 30 suspending housing 12 from a ceiling 34. FIG. 4 shows one type of support rod 30 that may be used, although different structures are possible. Referring again to FIG. 3, a mounting plate 36 may be used to provide additional support and stability. Mounting plate 26 is secured transversely to a remote end of support beam 24, and is adapted to engage housing support 26.

Also shown in FIG. 3 is a locking means 38 that may be used to lock support beam 24 in a selected telescopic position relative to beam receiving channel 18. Locking means 38 may be any convenient device capable of locking support beam 24, such as locking screws 40 which extends through an aperture 42, represented by a perforated line, on the bottom of housing 12 into beam receiving channel 18 to engage support beam 24.

Referring to FIG. 2, fan 20 is provided with a nozzle 46 to help direct air barrier 23. Referring to FIG. 7,nozzle 46 has a frame 48 with a first end 50, a second end 52, a first side 54, a second side 56 and a peripheral side wall 58 defining an enclosure 60. A plurality of louvres 62 are positioned within enclosure 60 and extend between first end 50 and second end 52. Referring to FIG. 8, each of louvres 62 have an upper end 64 and a lower end 66. Upper end 64 is pivotally mounted to frame 48 for pivotal movement about a substantially horizontal pivot axis 68, such that louvres 62 can be selectively angled to direct air flow toward either first side 54 as illustrated in FIG. 9 or second side 56 as illustrated in FIG. 10. Referring to FIG. 7, openings 70 are provided at first end 50 and second end 52, which are adapted to receive a fastener so that nozzle 46 can mounted to mounting assembly 10.

In the alternative, frame 48 of nozzle 46 can be pivotally mounted to mounting assembly 10 such that the nozzle 46 itself can be pivoted to direct flow of air curtain 23 as illustrated in FIG. 11.

Operation:

The use of mounting assembly 10 will now be discussed with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11. Referring to FIG. 1, housing 12 is provided with multiple fans 20, with motors 21 connected to housing 12. Pivotally mounted nozzles can be pivoted to the desired angle to direct air barrier 23. While motors 21 are shown to be external to housing 12, and each motor 21 powers more than one fan 20, it will be understood that many different arrangements are possible. For example, each fan 20 may have its own motor 21 which may be located within housing 12. Once the required length is required, support beams 24 are extended or retracted within beam receiving channel 18 to the determined length, as shown in FIG. 3. Support beams 24 are locked into position by locking screws 40. Mounting plate 36 is attached to support beam 24, which is then attached to housing supports 26, such as mounting brackets 28 attached to wall 32 as shown in FIG. 5 or support rods 30 that may be attached to a ceiling 34 as shown in FIG. 6.

In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements.

It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the illustrated embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined in the Claims. 

1. A mounting assembly for an air barrier, comprising: a housing having opposed ends and at least one beam receiving channel in at least one of the opposed ends; more than one fan disposed in the housing, the more than one fan being adapted to create an air barrier across an opening; at least one support beam telescopically received in the at least one beam receiving channel, the at least one support beam being movable between a retracted position and an extended position, the at least one support beam being selectively extendible to meet installation width requirements; and housing supports adapted to be mounted to one of a wall or a ceiling and adapted to engage at least one support beam.
 2. The mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein there are two beam receiving channels in parallel spaced relation in at least one of the opposed ends.
 3. The mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein there is at least one beam receiving channel in each of the opposed ends.
 4. The mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein there are two beam receiving channels in parallel spaced relation in each of the opposed ends.
 5. The mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein the housing supports are mounting brackets adapted to be mounted to a wall.
 6. The mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein the housing supports are support rods adapted to suspend the housing from a ceiling.
 7. The mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein locking means are provided to lock the at least one support beam in a selected telescopic position relative to the at least one beam receiving channel.
 8. The mounting assembly as defined in claim 7, wherein the locking means are locking screws which extend through an aperture in the housing into the at least one beam receiving channel to engage the at least one support beam.
 9. The mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein a mounting plate is secured transversely to a remote end of the at least one support beam, the mounting plate being adapted to engage the housing support.
 10. The mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein the more than one fan is provided with a pivoting nozzle.
 11. The mounting assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein the nozzle has longitudinal louvres.
 12. The mounting assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein the housing is acoustically insulated.
 13. The mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein each fan has a nozzle comprising: a frame having a first end, a second end, a first side, a second side and a peripheral side wall defining an enclosure; and a plurality of louvres positioned within the enclosure and extending between the first end and the second end, each of the louvres having an upper end and a lower end, the upper end being pivotally mounted to the frame for pivotal movement about a substantially horizontal pivot axis, such that the louvres can be selectively angled to direct air flow toward either the first side or the second side.
 14. A nozzle for a mounting assembly for an air barrier, comprising: a frame having a first end, a second end, a first side, a second side and a peripheral side wall defining an enclosure; a plurality of louvres positioned within the enclosure and extending between the first end and the second end, each of the louvres having an upper end and a lower end, the upper end being pivotally mounted to the frame for pivotal movement about a substantially horizontal pivot axis, such that the louvres can be selectively angled to direct air flow toward either the first side or the second side; and means for mounting the frame to a mounting assembly.
 15. The nozzle as defined in claim 14, wherein the means for mounting the frame to the mounting assembly are openings provided at the first end and the second end, which are adapted to receive a fastener. 